American Express is considering its first global media review in more than a decade, which would place incumbent Mindshare on notice, according to US reports.
AdNews understands that no RFP has been issued, but the credit card company is evaluating how it does media globally. It is not yet clear if a global review would involve the Australian market, but previous history suggests it is likely.
In the past year, Amex spent $15 million on media, according to Nielsen.
The last time the business reviewed 13 years ago, Mindshare held off challenges from Carat and Initiative. Mindshare has held the account globally for about 20 years, winning it from Ogilvy.
According to cardrates.com, Amex was the world's fourth-largest credit card issuer last year with 58 million cardholders worldwide, but its customers typically spend more than carholders of Visa and Mastercard.
Agencies that would be conflicted out of the review include Starcom, which services market leader Visa, and Carat, which has the second-largest credit card company Mastercard on its books.
Any review comes in the wake of recent global leadership changes. In February, Stephen Squeri became global CEO, succeeding Kenneth Chenault, who retired after 37 years with the company. At the same time, Elizabeth Rutledge was promoted to CMO.
In Australia, Amex's director of marketing and business insights consultation, Ciarán Norris, left the business to take on a role at Facebook in Ireland.
Earlier this month, Amex rolled out a new brand platform and ad (see below), which was developed by US creative agency mcgarrybowen and localised in this market via Ogilvy and Mindshare.
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